Tesla’s pickup truck is surely the most eagerly-awaited new vehicle since…well, Tesla’s last vehicle. Pickups are the biggest segment of the US auto market, and electrifying them will be a major, and necessary, turning point for EV adoption. Ford, GM and startup Rivian all have electric pickups in various stages of development, but Tesla is… Read more »
Tag: The Vehicles
BYD’s articulated e-bus passes Altoona test, now eligible for FTA funding
The K11M, BYD’s 60-foot electric articulated transit bus, has passed durability road testing under the Federal Transit Authority’s (FTA) new Pass/Fail guidelines at the Model Bus Testing Program in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It is the first electric transit bus of its size to complete the full 15,000-mile durability test. Once Altoona and the FTA finalize the… Read more »
Frito-Lay manufacturing site to deploy electric trucks from Tesla, Peterbilt, BYD
Frito-Lay plans to make its Modesto, California manufacturing site, one of the company’s largest in the US, a “near zero-emission freight facility.” A grant from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (aka Valley Air) will cover half of the $30.8-million cost of the project. Frito-Lay will replace all its existing diesel-powered freight equipment… Read more »
Tesla’s acquisition of battery manufacturer Hibar points to plans to build battery cells
Tesla has quietly acquired Ontario-based Hibar Systems, which specializes in battery manufacturing. The California carmaker has made no official announcement, but Electric Autonomy Canada learned from federal lobby registration documents that Hibar became a subsidiary of Tesla sometime between July and October. Hibar Systems was founded in the early 1970s to make small cell batteries,… Read more »
New report: 33% of buses will be electric by 2030
E-buses will make up nearly 33 percent of all buses worldwide by 2030, according to a recent report from Navigant Research. The Electric Buses report finds that China will continue to be the global leader in e-bus sales, maintaining 74 percent of the market share by 2030, while North America and Europe will make up… Read more »
Unions fear electrification will vaporize their jobs
As the legacy automakers finally begin to get serious about electrification, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the accelerating transition will result in a major restructuring of the industry, which seems likely to include substantial job losses. As a recent Bloomberg article reports, fear of the electric future is an underlying reason for the United Auto… Read more »
JFK Airport Terminal 5 installs 38 charging hubs, will electrify ground equipment
Airport ground support equipment – fuel trucks, tugs, container loaders, catering vehicles, etc – is a prime candidate for electrification, and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport has taken a major step in this direction. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced a switch to electric ground service equipment at JFK’s Terminal 5. The… Read more »
Tesla’s “biggest software update ever” includes Smart Summon feature
Tesla’s Software Version 10.0, which the company calls “our biggest software update ever,” will be rolled out to Tesla owners around the world this week. The star of the show is Smart Summon, which appears to be a major step towards full vehicle autonomy: With Smart Summon, customers who have purchased Full Self-Driving Capability or… Read more »
Go electric on the water with the Taiga Orca electric watercraft
Montreal-based startup Taiga Motors began life in 2015 as a spin-out from the racing team at McGill University, where co-founders Paul Achard, Gabriel Bernatchez and Sam Bruneau worked on electric powertrains. The company has developed a line of electric snowmobiles, and has now announced an electric watercraft (as reported by Electrek). The Taiga Orca features… Read more »
Daimler and CATL partner on battery modules for e-trucks
Battery producer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and Daimler Trucks & Buses have signed an agreement for CATL to provide Daimler with Li-ion battery modules beginning in 2021. The agreement covers the Mercedes-Benz eActros, Freightliner eCascadia and Freightliner eM2 electric trucks. Frank Reintjes, Daimler’s Head of Global Powertrain, E-Mobility and Manufacturing Engineering, said, “We are constantly… Read more »
